Although higher education fared a little better in this year’s legislative session than in recent years, there’s no escaping the trend of dwindling state funding for our public universities and colleges. Some analysts are predicting it will disappear altogether before long.

Business leaders know that when one revenue source dries up, it’s time to diversify funding streams. Universities now need to do the same. In this new world of diminished public support, as we work to increase philanthropic contributions, student enrollment and research funding, an entrepreneurial approach is key.
This phenomenon isn’t unique to higher education. Uncertainty pervades many sectors in our increasingly global economy, with recent financial crises and political unrest around the world and people, information, products and ideas flowing across borders at an unprecedented rate.

In the face of these changes, entrepreneurship — the ability to seize new business opportunities despite indeterminate outcomes — is emerging as the engine fueling innovation, employment generation and economic growth.

Universities not only have to act more creatively to stay afloat, they have an important role to play in teaching the skills that nurture an entrepreneurial mindset and in preparing future leaders for solving more complex, interlinked and fast-changing problems.

Walt Disney Co. had filed 10 applications earlier this month with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for “Dia de los Muertos,” an untitled film about the Mexican holiday, which translates in English as “Day of the Dead.” The applications covered toys, cereals and jewelry.

The holiday, with roots in both Christian and Aztec traditions, honors departed relatives and is widely celebrated in Mexico and the United States.

The award goes to companies that use patented technology to improve global health and raise standards of living, and it’s easy to see why with Nokero, whose name is short for “no kerosene.”

The 3-year-old company has distributed millions of its solar-powered light bulbs in more than 100 countries. Founded by Denver native Stephen Katsaros, the company hopes to help people in developing countries avoid using kerosene lamps, which cause emissions and are unhealthy for the poor families exposed to their fumes. And Nokero’s solar-powered lights have the benefit of helping these people save money spent on kerosene.

Nokero works with local groups and governments that help the poor sell the lamps from places as far apart as Uganda to homes without electricity in the Navajo Nation in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

Katsaros said the award “provides encouragement and support for innovators to pursue the goal of making a better life for the world’s least fortunate.”

Vincent Carroll is The Denver Post's editorial page editor. He has been writing commentary on politics and public policy in Colorado since 1982 and was originally with the Rocky Mountain News, where he was also editor of the editorial pages until that newspaper gave up the ghost in 2009.

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